Saturday, November 04, 2017

The Day Andrew Scheer Revealed His Inner Monster

Let nobody say I didn't warn them that Andrew Scheer is a dangerous religious fanatic.For I've been trying to drive home that simple point for months.Trying to warn Canadians that Scheer is a such a religious extremist that he is quite capable of tearing this country apart.Or do anything to try to smear Justin Trudeau.And now at last I can rest my case.

For now it's only too clear that Scheer is trying to start nothing less than a religious war.Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is criticizing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for praising Gov. Gen. Julie Payette in the wake of Payette's suggestion that "divine intervention" did not play a role in the creation of life on Earth. "It is extremely disappointing that the prime minister will not support Indigenous peoples, Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, Christians and other faith groups who believe there is truth in their religion," Scheer said in a statement posted to Facebook."Respect for diversity includes respect for the diversity of religious beliefs, and Justin Trudeau has offended millions of Canadians with his comments‎."And for no good or decent reason...

For it should be obvious to any sane person that Julie Payette is not mocking religion.Speaking at a science conference in Ottawa on Wednesday, Payette stressed the need for greater public awareness of scientific knowledge and noted, with some incredulity, that certain unscientific beliefs persist, including astrology and skepticism about climate change. She also made a reference to religious belief.
"We are still debating and still questioning whether life was a divine intervention or whether it was coming out of a natural process let alone, oh my goodness, a random process," Payette said.She is merely defending rational thought and science, at a time in world history when both are under attack.And so is Justin Trudeau.Asked about the Governor General's statements on Thursday, Trudeau offered a general statement of support. "We are a government grounded in science. Canadians are people who understand the value of science and knowledge as a foundation for the future of our country," he said.

Who is a better leader and a better Canadian than Scheer or Schmear could ever hope to be.And the idea that any of this should be controversial is, as Jamie Carroll points out, simply beyond belief.This week, Canada’s new Governor General was chastised by certain … let’s just call them ‘regressive’ … elements of the chattering classes who claimed to be appalled that she had the audacity to step out from behind her vice-regal privilege to announce that she believes the world is not flat.Well, holy hannah. Has the sky fallen yet? Did the sun still rise in the east?For only Scheer and his Con oil pimps and climate change deniers could be offended by this:“Can you believe that still today in learned society, in houses of government, unfortunately, we’re still debating and still questioning whether humans have a role in the Earth warming up, or whether even the Earth is warming up, period?”Or be surprised that a woman as accomplished as Julie Payette should think or act differently...

Asking Mme. Payette — or anyone with her background — to stop extolling the importance of facts in science and public debate is less like asking Mme. Adrienne Clarkson to not support the arts … and more like asking Mme. Michaëlle Jean to not be black. Science is central to Mme. Payette’s nature. Asking her to remain tight-lipped while the Flat Earth Society has the floor is simply not on.And as for Scheer's claim that Justin Trudeau is "offending diversity" it couldn't be more obscene...

When that deranged religious fanatic, is a grotesque misogynist, a bigot who kisses the ass of people like Ezra Levant, a man who would put his religion and his ideology before the lives of Canadians, as well as a filthy homophobe who believes that gay people are "abhorrent."And is for all those reasons, and many others, unfit to be the leader of a Canadian political party.Scheer has only been Con leader for just over five months, and already he has turned our parliament into a Con sewer, and is trying to start a religious war in this country. Imagine what he might do if he is given more time.And then fight him, fight him, fight him.Don't let him win...

31 comments:

Some silly cons say that as the Queen's representative, she must obey the tenets of the Church of England. Pretty silly Andy. As far as I know Anglicans do not deny anthropological climate change or evolution. They may take a dim view of astrology though.

One of those silly cons is Robyn Urback, formerly of the National Compost and who now has a plum position peddling fake news for the Conservative Broadcasting Corporation. In the interest of "media fairness" even ignorant hacks are given equal time (or more than equal time) at Canada's national broadcaster. Harper really ran them into the toilet. Wonder how soon we should expect a follow-up piece from Robyn warning that the threat of autism as being far worse than polio, and promoting blood-letting over blood transfusions? After all, there's never been an autistic President of the United States, while F.D.R. had polio and won the war. Therefore, vaccinations are a violation of the principles of good health and "freedom of conscience," right Ms. Urback?

Religious foolishness is only acceptable when it does not harm anyone else. There's plenty of "barbaric practices" to be found in all superstitious and unrealistic beliefs, even those which are not explicitly connected to a centralized "religion" per se. The 24-hour YouTube conspiracy machine that produced the Pizzagate and "spirit cooking" lunacy, and repeats over and over again an abundance of malicious and perverted lies about Justin Trudeau and everyone in his family, comes to mind. The majority of these outlets are also disparaging of and threatening toward Jews, the self-hating kapo Levant's channel included. Should that network of hatred be respected simply because millions of people "strongly and sincerely believe" it is true? 'Course not.

I seriously doubt that Her Majesty (who herself served in the military during that war against a powerful and superstitious bigot) would expect her representative to countenance such harmful stupidity just because it is "sacred" to one or more factions of society. But perhaps the primary reason the cons are in denial about evolution is because for some reason it skipped over them.

Hi rumleyfips...I find most of the reaction to Payette's innocuous comments to be absolutely absurd. But what is important is Scheer's visceral reaction to it. And the reason it's important is that it reveals something about Scheer that most Canadians don't know. And that is that unlike most Con politicians who use religion to advance their political careers, Scheer is interested in using politics to advance his so-called Dominionist philosophy. Along with Jason Kenney he actually does have a hidden agenda, and that's what makes both of them so dangerous...

Hi anon 2:57 pm...I have absolutely no time for that ghastly National Post right-winger Urback. She is a disgrace to journalism and one of the reasons the CBC is now commonly known as the Conservative Broadcasting Corporation. In my opinion the CBC should get out of the opinion business and focus on reporting and storytelling. For if they think they can cozy up to the right their idiot managers must be deluded, and will end up getting their throats cut. At the present time my friends and I are trying to figure out who is really running CBC News now that Mansbridge has finally left. And when we find out there will be hell to pay...

No, they're not. Bigots like you are abhorrent. Go crawl back into your closet, Ezra. Or is it Jason? Or one of Vlad's troll bots? Either way, go fuddle-duddle yourself and stick your hatred where the sunny ways don't shine. Reasonable and compassionate human beings are fed up with your garbage.

Hi anon 9:39 AM....as you know only too well I normally delete your comments as soon as I see them. But I thought I would let my other readers know what kind of people support leaders like Scheer and Kenney. And what sad perverts they are. I feel sorry for you, you are obviously a very lonely closet queen. Try to be a better person before it's too late...

Hi anon 2:39 PM...thanks for your support, but as I told that freak, it's sometimes useful to know who we are up against, so we can destroy them without remorse. Scheer may pose as Jesus, but his disgusting pervert followers tell you all you need to know about him,...

A 9:39, so why come to this blog? No one is interested in your comment. Those who come here have joined the 21st century. Gay, straight, queer, trans., if you're religious, are all God's children. Remember that little line in the Bible about being created in God's image?

I thought Stephen Harper was disgusting for the way he pitted Canadians against each other, but compared to Scheer he is an amateur. There is no sewer that religious bigot won't crawl through to attack Justin Trudeau.

Hi anon....as the former NDP MP Lorne Nystrom who lost his seat to Scheer once said, the man likes to play dirty. And believe me there's a lot of evidence of that. He might fool many Canadians but he won't fool me...

Hi anon....nobody can deny that, everywhere you look religion is causing bigotry or bloodshed. However, although I'm an atheist, I know that there are good religious people, and under certain circumstances religion can be a force for good. We need to encourage the decent ones, and denounce frauds like Scheer and Kenney....

I'm the anon who requested yesterday that Simon cover this story in an article, and in my prior comment I left a note about a famous quote from the late, great American astronomer and proponent of scientific literacy, Carl Sagan. This is a prophetic statement from his book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, published in 1995 just two years prior to his death. He spoke primarily of America in this passage, but clearly, the lesson to be learned is universal -- and if knuckle-draggers like Scheer have their way, could come to Canada too.

I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time -- when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness...

The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance.

Those 30-second or 10-second "soundbites" can now be called "tweets," some twenty-plus years hence Sagan's tragic and premature demise from cancer. But regardless of what medium is used to both promote and proliferate ignorance, that's the world of demons that Julie Payette and Justin Trudeau are fighting against. Andrew Scheer really is an agent of the dark side. He and his Republican counterparts like Rick Perry (who made a ridiculous claim that fossil fuels could stop rape by powering electric streetlamps) and Donald Trump (who needs no introduction) must be marginalized and defeated once and for all. Literally, the future of our planet depends on it.

Hi anon...thank you for that quote from the great Carl Sagan. It's stunningly prophetic. Everything he says in that quote is now true, and without the dumbing down of America Trump would never have become president. Sometimes the torrent of insanity threatens to overwhelm me, and I long for peace and quiet of the Scottish highlands. But you're right, if our beautiful planet is to be saved, we need to defeat those filthy fascists and show them no mercy...

ATHEISTIC NATURALISM God does not exist. There is no real design (only apparent design) and nature is all there is. [eg. Carl Sagan:”The Cosmos is all that is, or ever was, or ever will be.”]

AGNOSTIC NATURALISM One is unsure whether God exists. Though nature may not be all there is, nature is all that matters.

THEISTIC NATURALISM God exists. He designed the natural laws. There is no design in the strict sense, and although _in principle_ nature is not allthat matters, _in effect_ it is.

THEISTIC EVOLUTION (WEAK DESIGN). God designed the natural laws so that their ordinary operation would result in the intended outcome.

THEISTIC EVOLUTION (STRONG DESIGN).To ensure the intended outcome, God not only designed the natural laws, but also determined their initial conditions.

INTERVENTION To ensure the intended outcome, God not only designed the natural laws and determined their initial conditions, but also intervenedin subsequent conditions.

SPECIAL CREATION [old universe/old earth/recent global flood] To ensure the intended outcome, God designed the natural laws, determined their initial conditions, and intervened in subsequent conditions. God created the universe billions of years ago. Although micro-evolution /speciation occur, it is viewed as variation within created “kinds” (baramins) eg. the cat “kind”. Macro-evolution has never occurred.

SPECIAL CREATION [young universe/young earth/recent global flood] To ensure the intended outcome, God designed the natural laws, determined their initial conditions, and intervened in subsequent conditions. God created the universe only thousands (not billions) of years ago.

Although micro-evolution /speciation occur, it is viewed as variation within created “kinds” (baramins) eg. the cat “kind”. Macro-evolution has neveroccurred.

Note: Many creationists and intelligent designers prefer the term micro-variation to micro-evolution, because they argue no net “evolution” (vertical evolution: information-building evolution) has occured.

Hi David...thanks for all the info and the links. As you know we don't discriminate against the religious here. Although I'm an atheist I've met many good Christians who work with the poor and the sick, and they have been and are excellent human beings. However, since so many religious fanatics seem determined to try to kill me and my friends, I think I'll remain a happy heathen...

Sure, there are a lot of religious fanatics out there. Regarding the Christian faith, a person should not decide to become a Christian based on what Christians do or don't do. It should be based on who Jesus is and what he did (IF you believe what the Bible says he did)

What Payette said is quite true and Scheer might want to shut up and go away. We are a science based society. Scheer must be a "creationist". one of those backwoods types, like Harper who thought the Bible was inerrant and the end of the world imminent. If he wants to play the role, then he is setting his party back a few thousand years or so.

There is nothing in Payette's comments which would offend people of faith in this day and age. Its what they were all taught in school.

What Scheer doesn't understand is when the Bible says the Lord created the earth in 6 days, there was no definition of what constituted a day. I can recall back in the 1960s, as a teenager, our church's minister making that point.

I doubt if many religious people take the 6 days literally. what Ms. Payette said is not inconsistent with people's religious beliefs. Most religious books were written a long time before we had much in the way of science.

Perhaps Scheer ought to use the brain, he thinks god gave him. Scheer's comments will appeal to his base, but not to too many others.

I doubt if many religious people take the 6 days literally.I'd agree that few Christians that the 6 days literally but a lot of the New Earth Creationists almost certainly do. If, as reported, Scheer is a Christian Dominionist there is an excellent change that he does and that he believes the earth is a bit over 4,000 years old.

Hi e.a.f...what I object to the most is the way Scheer, with the help of the Con media, took Payette's harmless comment, and blew it up into big thing. I also am not impressed by the creeper's cowardice, Payette's made the comment, but he attacks Justin Trudeau for applauding her comments about science? He really is a scumbag, and just like Harper all he seeks to do is create one wedge issue after another...

If Scheer wants to bring the fire and brimstone, it serves Canadians no purpose not to fight fire with fire and brimstone with brimstone. You don't bring a quill pen to a sword fight. When they zig you zag. When they go low, you don't necessarily have to go lower, but you don't just go nowhere at all.

Scheer is trying to paint Payette as a hostile bigot, an "intellectual elitist," and an academic snob. It's projection, worse than an IMAX theater showing movies on the surface of the moon. He and his party are the ones sowing the divisions, pitting Canadians against each other, and making anyone not of Harper's angry white-nationalist coalition feel "lesser."

This is the tactic that worked so well for the GOP: Trump with his statements about "loving the poorly educated" and never hiring anyone smarter than he is. The party itself has spent 30+ years gutting American education so they can brainwash and swindle the insecure, jealous rubes who hate "eggheads," think science is both witchcraft and a direct threat to their worldview and way of life, and especially fearsome when it comes from an "uppity" woman (like Hillary Clinton or Julie Payette) whose bigly yuge brains make their pétit coconuts feel very, very, nano-infinitesimally small.

Learn from your southern neighbor: never underestimate the power of stupid people in bigly yuge groups. If Scheer's and the cons' words and actions are met with a dismissive shrug as the incoherent ramblings of out-of-touch cranks, they're certainly not going to temper their fanaticism. Like Trump and the GOP shocked everyone a year ago, they too would have a chance of riding their horse's asses directly to a parliamentary apocalypse.

Simon's a fighter and so is Trudeau. All the stops need to be pulled out in order to destroy any chance the Canadian version of Mike Penance may have at turning Canada into a backwards-thinking, regressive toilet like the United States. Otherwise you look like a dopey loser, low-energy and sad.

Hi Gyor....no I don't think I have gone overboard in my reaction to Scheer's attempt to find yet another phony excuse to attack Justin Trudeau. I have spent the last decade attacking the Cons on a daily basis. And my way of getting my message across is by caricaturing them. That can seem over the top but it's a legitimate form of political protest. But I have a question for you. Since you are always defending the Cons, are you still an NDP supporter, or do plan to vote for the Cons in the next election?

Hi anon...brilliantly said, and thanks for explaining the situation so well to Gyor. I am a fighter and the complacency of progressives sometimes drives me crazy. I can't understand why so many are so passive when our enemies are so beastly, and would destroy everything good we believe in. I might disagree with Justin Trudeau about this or that, but I admire his obvious decency and to me in this dark world that is more important than anything else...

You are not the only one that minds the complacency of too many progressives, as well you know. It is something I watch the far right exploit far too frequently to great success, in the service/practice of ratfucking. The American right wing, in its various aspects, have formed into one of the great monsters of western civilization, absorbed far too many traits of fascism, all the while managing to declare it is the OTHER side that is the evil ones, the elites, the ones screwing "the common folk". The overt religiousity in question here being one of those aspects. We cannot fight religion with religion, that way is a bloody one, what we can do is fight it with secularity and tolerance for all within a common civil society that treats all justly. Hmmmmm, I wonder where I've heard that before...

The liberals/progressives keep trying to see the other side. Look, I am all for such things, you know me well enough for that Simon, I am no absolutist mindset. But we at some point all have to stop equating understanding another point of view with meaning it is equally valid and fair, for that way lies/laid the madness we live with now IMHO.

Hi Scotian...nice to hear from you again, I hope you are well. You know, I would have stopped blogging long ago, for I have new projects I am working on, and I don't have enough time to do all I want to do. But I feel that if I do quit blogging it would please my enemies and worse than that if would feel to me at least like I am surrendering to the complacency I see all around me. Some of that complacency I understand. We are living in a blessed country, free from the monstrous tyranny of Harper and his gang, and Canadians have a right to enjoy to just enjoy life without the yapping dogs of politics to bother them. Also, Trump has exhausted many good people with his endless barking. However, we are living in a dangerous time, the future of the world could be decided in the next couple of years or months. So when I see so many rolling over on their backs like doggies, I am truly horrified. The media in this country is as Con as it could be, so we need ordinary citizens to act as counterweight. But instead there is just silence. I'm starting to think that my upbringing in the Scottish highlands, where every other rock or tree is marked by a story of rebellion ,has not properly prepared me for life in this country. But I don't dare leave because once again it would feel like surrender, and I don't care what others think, but I couldn't live with that. So as you can see, I haven't changed a bit ;)We came out into the light, and went back into the darkness....